Automatic mailing of Iowa Income Tax booklets eliminated for 2011

November 17, 2011

With the continued growth of electronic filing, the Iowa Department of Revenue (IDR) will no longer automatically mail paper income tax forms and instruction booklets to individual taxpayers beginning with tax year 2011. This change is part of IDR's focus on creating efficiencies through the increased use of technology. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and many other states have already taken this step.

We strongly encourage all taxpayers to file their returns electronically. eFiling is safe, easy, and refunds are issued in days instead of weeks. You may even qualify to eFile for free!

Still want paper? Options include:

* Forms and instructions are available online at www.iowa.gov/tax. The online form is fillable.

* Pick up a booklet at the IDR office on the 4th floor of the Hoover State Office Building, located at 1305 E. Walnut in Des Moines

* NOTE: due to limited availability, only one booklet will be provided to each customer.

In addition, IDR is pleased to announce it is implementing a barcoding program for tax year 2011. Returns filed on paper that are created using participating computer software vendors or printed from the IDR Web site will contain a barcode to assist in processing those returns. Barcodes will appear in the upper right and lower left on page 1 of the IA1040, as well as in the lower left on many other Iowa individual income tax forms and schedules.

Barcoding will be offered in addition to electronic filing. While barcoding may speed the processing of a paper return slightly, filing returns electronically remains the best option for processing returns more quickly and accurately.